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[[image]] [[caption]]Mrs. Isabella Dempsey is greeted on her arrival yesterday by Mrs. Howard Mitchell, president of the Ladies' Kennel Club, while Capt. Mitchell Gitt, pilot for Colonial Airlines, watches in the background. Mrs. Dempsey's seeing-eye dog, Chloe, seems anxious to be off. The Ladies' Kennel Club presented the dog to the Montreal housewife. (Gazette Photo Service)[[/caption]] Montreal Housewife Pleased with First Seeing-eye Dog By OLIVE DICKASON Mrs. Isabella Dempsey, Montreal housewife, had one idea when she arrived at Montreal airport yesterday...to meet her husband, and to get her Seeing-Eye dog, Chloe, home where she could relax and [[missing text]] since yesterday." Mrs. Dempsey explained as she entered the airport buildings. Mrs. Dempsey had some reason to be concerned about Chloe, for it is the first time that she has had a Seeing-Eye dog. It is also the first time that a Montreal housewife has had one. "Other Montreal women who have Seeing-Eye dogs all work on jobs outside their homes," explained J.A. Godin, superintendent for the Canadian National Institute for the Blind, who was on hand to meet Mrs. Dempsey. Dog Nervous Chloe wasn't so sure that she appreciated all the fuss and feathers that was going on about her. She was nervous coming down the ramp from the Colonial plane, and she clung close by Mrs. Dempsey. "This is her first flight," the 58-year-old housewife explained. "I don't think she liked it very well." The dog was fine on buses and trains, Mrs. Dempsey explained. "She's had a lot of experience with them, and she knows what to expect there." Mrs. Dempsey was able to get her dog through the Ladies' Kennel Club. The housewife has been blind almost since birth. "It will be so much easier for me to get around the city with Chloe," she smiled. "I feel safer with a dog than I do with many people. The dog is always with me, while people sometimes go off and forget that I'm waiting for them." Rigorous Routine The routine necessary to get a Seeing-Eye dog is a rigorous one, Mrs. Dempsey explained. First of all, applicants are carefully tested to see whether they are suited to having such a canine companion. Those who are accepted go to Morristown, New Jersey, where they spend a month learning how to get along with their new guides. "The dogs are carefully matched to the persons," Mrs. Dempsey said. "I arrived on Saturday and on Sunday I was given Chloe. We haven't been separated since...she even sleeps in the same room with me." The training routine meant getting up 5.30 every morning to take the dog out to the park, then coming back for breakfast at 7.15 a.m. At eight, Mrs. Dempsey and Chloe were walking through the town, finding their way through traffic and pedestrians during the morning rush. By 10.30 a.m. it was time to feed Chloe, and at noon, time for Mrs. Dempsey's lunch. The afternoon's schedule was marked by another tour through traffic. During all this time, Mrs. Dempsey said, a trainer was always along...the flight back home was the first time she had gone on her own with the dog. "It's wonderful to have Cloe," the Montreal-born woman smiled. As the dog shivered with nervousness, she added: "She isn't at her best just now." Incidentally, Chloe is two years old and is a boxer. Mrs. Dempsey has one son, who is at present in the United States. She has always done all her own cooking and housework, she said. Now she will be able to go on her own around the city...a prospect that will open a new life for her, Mrs. Dempsey said.
